Prachuap Khiri Khan’s 9.6 million baht blue car park

Bike lanes are being added in popular locations around the country, at great expense, for the pleasure and safety of the growing number of bicyclists in Thailand. But sometimes no one tells the car drivers who think the new bike lanes are just a colorful place to park their cars.

A 9.6 million baht, 2.9 kilometre long bicycle lane along the beach in Prachuap Khiri Khan’s Mueang district has ended up as parking spaces for car, with police saying nothing can be done about it.

Following complaints from local residents that they can’t use the new bike lane, Mueang Prachuap Khiri Khan police station chief Pol Colonel Chayinthorn Sukhonthorn says no action could be taken against motorists who parked in the lane.

He explained that the provincial public works and town planning office had built the bike lane without cooperating with the local administration to issue any law or regulation for its usage, so police could not act against motorists that parked there.

The lane was allocated for cyclists from the beach road in front of Wing 5 Air Command to the Bang Nang Rom Bridge.

Police say they will hold a meeting with other government agencies concerned to discuss what should be done about the bike lane.

Sutthiporn Thiangtham, the mayor of Mueang Prachuap Khiri Khan municipality, said the municipality had not taken over the bike lane from the public works office even though the construction work had been completed six months ago.

Parts of the lane’s surface have also been damaged by vehicles, the mayor added.

Aran Chanton, acting chief of the Prachuap Khiri Khan Public Works and Town and Planning Office, said the bike-lane project could not yet be handed over to the local administration because the office was currently in the process of defending the project with the Office of the Auditor-General.

Aran said the agency had questioned the project’s worthiness after it turned out that it had not been used by cyclists but was mostly being used as parking space by motorists.

Prachuap Khiri Khan’s scenic Ao Manao beach reopens today

Chon Buri and Hua Hin aren’t the only places reopening their beaches. Today, Ao Manao, the scenic beach in the western province of Prachuap Khiri Khan will also be open to the public. The crescent shaped bay belongs to the Air Force Wing 5 miltary base. Like all Thai beaches, it’s been closed for two months due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Since Monday, the beachfront Fa Chom Kluen hotel has been available for booking for overnight stays. The beach will also open for swimming.

The reopening of Ao Manao is in contrast to the beaches in neighbouring Phetchaburi province, where an official announcement from the provincial governor allows all beaches including the popular Cha-am beach to reopen, but no swimming or watersports. The governor instead allowed food vendors and other service providers, including those who provide horse riding and beach chairs, to resume business.

In Chon Buri, on the east coast of the Gulf, all beaches in the Pattaya area have been open since June 1. But group activities like beach volleyball, jetskiing and banana boat rides are still not allowed. Those who offer beach chairs for rent must follow social distancing rules by placing the seats at least 1 metre apart, otherwise the service will be suspended. A violation could result in up to a year in prison and/or a fine up to 100,000 baht.

In Phuket, residents can still just look, but not go on, their famed beaches. Hotels have been given permission to open again on the island but few are bothering with the costs and expense as there are few people available to fill rooms. Phuket’s airport remains closed although June 15 is being widely tipped, but not confirmed, as the date for re-opening to domestic flights.

Scheduled international flights are still banned until at least the end of June.

In a related development, interprovincial bus operator Nakhonchai Air resumed its services Monday. Travel restrictions under the Emergency Decree had previously banned all trips of more than 300 kilometres.

The company is implementing social distancing rules by allowing passengers to sit only in window seats. Passengers must wear masks all the time and must check in and out before and after boarding the bus by using the Thai Chana app.

As Thailand’s beaches reopen, crowds flock back

Yesterday, the Queen’s birthday and a public holiday, saw many of Thailand’s popular beaches heaving with visitors as they reopened for the first time since their closure by the Emergency Decree in March. People across the country took advantage of the easing of inter-provincial travel restrictions that took effect Monday. Chon Buri’s Bang Saen beach in Chon Buri was almost spilling over into the streets.

By the afternoon traffic jams extended more than 2 kilometres on roads leading to the beach, prompting Saen Suk municipality’s mayor to temporarily close them to clear the tailbacks and control visitor numbers. On his Facebook page, he explained the beach was too packed, making it virtually impossible to observe social distancing guidelines. He also posted aerial pictures of the beach showing vehicles blocking the entire stretch of road next to the beach. 3 of the road’s 4 lanes were clogged by parked cars.

Stressing that rules must be enforced, the mayor said that from today vendors and food hawkers can resume their trade along the beach, but the sale of alcohol will still be banned.

• 7 areas on the beach will be free of beach chairs, and where chairs are allowed, there must be plenty of space between them

• visitors are required to wear face masks at all times

• those renting chairs out are required to the body temperature of their customers and provide them with hand sanitiser gel

• non-chair areas are designated so people can enjoy the open spaces on the beach

Bang Saen beach, which attracts a lot of weekenders because it’s the nearest beach to Bangkok, will be closed on Mondays for cleaning. The municipal office says beach chairs may only be used on the beach on weekends.

Under the “new normal” regulations, visitors to all beaches must wear masks at all times while on the beach and leave by 11pm. It’s reported that at the busiest time yesterday, at least 5,000 visitors were at Bang Saen beach, and most had driven there. The mayor says authorities will block traffic on roads leading to it when necessary to control the numbers. The number of beachgoers sparked fears of a possible resurgence of Covid-19 infections.

A member Bang Saen beach’s Bang Saen White Sharks lifeguard team said the crowds left officials and resources overstretched trying to enforce the “new normal”.

• beaches in Hua Hin also churned back to life as seaside vendors and restaurants once again welcomed customers, many of them locals.

• in the eastern province of Trat, ferries were back in business moving tourists between the mainland and islands including the popular Koh Chang.

• Koh Samet in Rayong, just east of Chon Buri, remains closed as it’s located in a national park, although local tourism associations have appealed to the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation to reopen it.

Horse riding makes a comeback on Hua Hin beaches

From next Friday, horses are expected back on the beaches of Hua Hin, on the Gulf of Thailand. It follows the easing of more Covid-19 restrictions last week as Prachuap Khiri Khan officials allowed some businesses, including horse-riding operations, to reopen. It’s understood that hotels, department stores and shopping malls are also back in business.

Hua Hin is starting to welcome more visitors and horse-riding on the beach has always been a popular activity with families who have young children. It’s hoped the operators of horse-riding centres can now start earning a living, having been severely affected by both the Covid-19 crisis and the outbreak of the African Horse virus, which has killed at least 500 horses across Thailand.

The chief veterinarian from Prachuap Khiri Khan’s Livestock Department, Chamorn Sakdinan, says a recently launched vaccination campaign has prevented any further deaths of horses in the region. He says horse owners can resume business provided their animals are kept in stables at night and under mosquito nets, to combat the mosquito-borne illness. He adds that owners will not have permission to move horses outside of Hua Hin.

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